16.  Great is the Baptism that lies before you S. Basil has a passage in praise of Baptism almost the same, word for word, with this.  It is more likely to have been borrowed from Cyril by Basil and other Fathers, than to be a later interpolation here.:  a ransom to captives; a remission of offences; a death of sin; a new-birth of the soul; a garment of light; a holy indissoluble seal; a chariot to heaven; the delight of Paradise; a welcome into the kingdom; the gift of adoption!  But there is a serpent by the wayside watching those who pass by:  beware lest he bite thee with unbelief.  He sees so many receiving salvation, and is seeking whom he may devour 1 Pet. v. 8..  Thou art coming in unto the Father of Spirits, but thou art going past that serpent.  How then mayest thou pass him?  Have thy feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace Eph. vi. 15.; that even if he bite, he may not hurt thee.  Have faith in-dwelling, stedfast hope, a strong sandal, that thou mayest pass the enemy, and enter the presence of thy Lord.  Prepare thine own heart for reception of doctrine, for fellowship in holy mysteries.  Pray more frequently, that God may make thee worthy of the heavenly and immortal mysteries.  Cease not day nor night:  but when sleep is banished from thine eyes, then let thy mind be free for prayer.  And if thou find any shameful thought rise up in thy mind, turn to meditation upon Judgment to remind thee of Salvation.  Give thy mind wholly to study, that it may forget base things.  If thou find any one saying to thee, Art thou then going in, to descend into the water? Has the city just now no baths? take notice that it is the dragon of the sea Is. xxvii. 1. who is laying these plots against thee.  Attend not to the lips of the talker, but to God who worketh in thee.  Guard thine own soul, that thou be not ensnared, to the end that abiding in hope thou mayest become an heir of everlasting salvation.